Saturday, September 26, 2009

If you are a regular Twitter user and have a bunch of followers you might want to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). In today's tutorial I will show you the easy way to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). It is fairly straightforward to add this Twitter Updates widget to Blogger so please don't be put off if you are a Blogger beginner as you can have this widget up and running in no time.

How to Add a Twitter Updates Gadget to Blogger There are several methods of adding a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger which I will be discussing over the next few posts. Today I will start with the easiest method by far. This Twitter widget won't slow down your blog loading time particularly but I suggest as with all HTML widgets that you place it near the bottom of your column of gadgets and limit the number of updates shown.

This Twitter Updates widget will provide a basic widget only and is fine if you aren't too bothered about styling. The widget uses the styling from your blog based on the Blogger template you are using but unfortunately there is no way to modify its appearance at the moment. If you want something a little more fancy keep an eye out for my future posts about Twitter Updates widgets.

Log in to Blogger if you are not already logged in

Go to Layout > Page Elements

Click Add a Gadget in the Blogger sidebar

Click on More Gadgets to the left and choose the Twitter Updates widget. Blogger may change this so if you don't find it there try looking in Featured or Popular.

Enter your Twitter name (usually your blog name)

Choose the number of updates to display. By default this is set to 5

Uncheck display link to your Twitter page if you do not want visitors to go to your Twitter page for some reason otherwise leave it as is.

Click Update to Preview any changes and then Save

Use Blogger's drag and drop feature to reposition your Twitter gadget in the desired location in sidebar or footer of your Blogger blog. Save any changes

Click View Blog to admire your new Twitter Updates widget

In today's tutorial I have shown you how easy it is to add a Twitter Updates widget to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). The Twitter Updates widget will display your latest Twitter tweets on your blog. The disadvantage of this third party Twitter Updates widget is that it has basic styling only and no way to modify it. On the plus side it loads fast and is likely to be trouble free. I will be writing more about Twitter updates widgets in the next couple of posts so keep an eye out. Enjoy!